1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to systems and methods for controlling automotive functions, and particularly to processor based systems and methods for automatically starting an automobile engine and controlling accessory devices in the automobile.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Those skilled in the art recognize that the automobile market is highly competitive, and that it is therefore necessary that automotive electronic systems for performing various functions be very economical and highly reliable before such automotive electronic systems can be incorporated into automobiles to replace functions previously performed by mechanical and/or conventional automotive electrical systems. It is well known that the automotive electrical environment is a particularly harsh environment for electrical components, since large amounts of electrical noise and high energy transient voltages capable of destroying conventional semiconductor electronic components can occur under certain circumstances. Because of the practical difficulties involved in implementing electronic systems in automobiles, it is necessary that decisions to utilize electronic components in automobiles be made very carefully, and that extensive experimentation and testing be performed to arrive at combinations of electronic components which will economically, safely, and reliably perform the desired functions.
A variety of automotive electronic systems have been utilized in the past. Such systems have been mainly utilized to perform highly complex functions in an automobile, for example, by controlling ignition timing and controlling fuel injection or carburetion systems as functions of a variety of engine parameters, such as instantaneous acceleration, manifold pressure, engine temperature, oil temperature, fuel temperature, and atmospheric pressure. Other applications of prior automotive electronic systems include electronic anti-skid systems for controlling the braking operation for each wheel automatically to prevent an automobile from skidding sideways when the brakes are slammed on during an emergency stopping situation. Both analog electronic systems and digital processor control systems have been utilized to perform such functions. Another function which has been performed by known microprocessor based systems is that of monitoring various sensors in an automobile and displaying parameters measured by sensors in digital form. Such parameters include engine speed, automobile speed, temperature, fuel consumption rate, and distance travelled between various points. The above-mentioned known systems are complex, and have involved enormous amounts of engineering expense. However, the expense has been considered to be justified by the importance of the objectives to be obtained, including providing more economical engine operation, thereby decreasing consumption of increasingly scarce petroleum fuel and reducing the concentration of automotive emissions, in line with requirements of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,846,760 (Ironside); 3,838,397 (Watson); 4,053,868 (Cox); 3,964,302 (Gordon) are generally indicative of the state of the art for automobile engine control and monitoring systems.
However, complex electronic automotive systems have not been utilized to perform relatively un-complex operations, such as turning headlights on and off, opening and closing windows, locking and unlocking doors, and turning heating and air conditioning units on and off. The conventional controls for performing such functions are relatively inexpensive, safe to use, convenient to use, and reliable. Computer based electronic systems have not been utilized to control ignition switches and to automatically start automobiles for essentially the same reasons. However, there are many persons who would like to have an automatic system for providing performing the above functions, especially on relatively expensive luxury automobiles. There is an untapped market for systems which could be either incorporated into automobiles during their manufacture or added on by the owners for automatically performing the usual accessory control and starting functions of an automobile by entering commands into a keyboard in the passenger compartment, or, even more desirably, on a remote keyboard coupled to a remote transmitter which transmits remotely entered commands to the automobile.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an economical, reliable, and safe electronic control system for automatically performing various accessory control functions in an automobile in response to either locally or remotely entered commands.
It is another object of the invention to provide an economical, reliable, and safe electronic control system for automatically starting an automobile and controlling various accessory control functions in the automobile in response to entered commands.
During cold or hot weather conditions, it is desirable that an automobile driver be able to start his car from within his home or office to permit the engine to "warm up". It is also desirable for the driver to be able to turn on the automobile heater or air conditioner or roll the windows up or down from a remote location. It is further desirable that the driver be able to easily and conveniently unlock all of the doors of his automobile by utilizing a remote control device. Various remote engine starting systems for automobiles and other vehicles are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,675,032 discloses a cable-connected remote starting system for starting a vehicle's engine and operating the heater control. U.S. Pat. No. 3,696,333 (Mott) discloses a remote automobile engine starting system utilizing a remote transmitter. U.S. Pat. No. 3,790,806 (Lessard) discloses a remotely controlled automotible engine starting system and accessory control system utilizing a radio transmitter. U.S. Pat. No. 4,013,875 discloses a microprocessor-based system for monitoring the operational status of and actuating an operation performing element in a vehicle such as a tractor. However, the known remote control starting systems do not test the temperature of the engine or actuate the accelerator if the engine is cold. The known automatic engine starting devices do not automatically make a predetermined number of attempts to start the engine in response to a single command if the initial attempt or subsequent attempts are unsuccessful.
It is therefore another object of the invention to provide an automatic starting system which automatically makes a predetermined number of attempts to start the engine if the intial and subsequent attempts are unsuccessful.
It is another object of the invention to provide an economical, safe, reliable system and method for automatically starting an automobile engine regardless of the engine temperature.
It is another object of the invention to provide an economical, safe, reliable system for automatically starting an automobile engine which does not excessively "flood" the engine with fuel or excessively drain the automobile's battery if the engine fails to start.
Automotive control devices must be sufficiently reliable and easily operated that the average driver will be unlikely to experience difficulty operating the automobile as a result of activating the wrong control. Although keyboards have been utilized to enter information into an automotive location determining system, and have been commonly used to enter digital information into computing systems, a "fail-safe" data entry system is necessary for a digital automotive control system to avoid actuation of control functions which would be dangerous or disruptive to driving of the automobile.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a safe system for entry of operating control information and/or accessory control information into an automotive electronic system.
It is another object of the invention to provide a keyboard data entry system for rejecting commands which are improperly and/or inadvertently entered into an automotive electronic control system.
Automobiles ordinarily have twelve volt electrical systems powered by twelve volt batteries. If an automobile's battery has excessive charge drained therefrom, for example, because an accessory such as a headlight has been inadvertently left on, the automobile will not start. Damage to an automobile's electrical system may occur when too many high current devices are activated simultaneously.
It is therefore another object of the invention to provide an automotive automatic starting and accessory control system which presents excessive current drain from the automobile's battery due to failure of various electrical or mechanical control components of the automobile or due to simultaneous operation of an excessive number of high current accessories or components of the automobile.
In view of the foregoing considerations, it is an overall object of the invention to provide an economical, reliable, and safe automobile starting and accessory control system which overcomes the above shortcomings of the prior art.